15 Facts About Cristian Diaconescu

Cristian Diaconescu previously belonged to the National Union for the Progress of Romania and the Social Democratic Party, as well as to the People's Movement Party, which he led from 2021 to 2022.

Cristian Diaconescu sat in the Romanian Senate from 2004 to 2012, representing Constanta County from 2004 until 2008, and subsequently Bucharest.

Cristian Diaconescu returned to the position in 2012, under Boc, and continued in this capacity under Boc's successor, Mihai Razvan Ungureanu.

Cristian Diaconescu was born in Bucharest, where his father Mihai was a lawyer; he is a seventh-generation jurist.

Cristian Diaconescu graduated from the Law Faculty of the University of Bucharest in 1983, earning a PhD in law in 2007.

Cristian Diaconescu was an associate professor at Hyperion University in 1993, a professor at the Carol I National Defence University in 1997 and at the Institute of Law and International Relations from 1998 to 2000, and in 2004 was on the academic staff of the Spiru Haret University in its International Relations and European Studies Faculty.

In December 2000, when the PDSR returned to office, Cristian Diaconescu became Secretary of State for Bilateral Affairs at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Cristian Diaconescu was re-elected as senator in November 2008, and the following month, he was named to the Boc cabinet.

Cristian Diaconescu visited the United States in May 2009, meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and commenting that Romania continued to be a "trustworthy partner" for the US, in turn an "essential ally" of Romania.

The issue of Moldova vividly appeared on the agenda during the April 2009 civil unrest, when Cristian Diaconescu commented that the authorities there had "exceeded limits" by arresting protesters without explanation, requiring visas of Romanians wishing to enter the country, expelling all Romanian journalists, and "provoking" the Romanian government by accusing it of involvement in the events.

Cristian Diaconescu soon announced that Moldovans would be able to obtain Romanian citizenship more easily.

Together with his PSD colleagues, Cristian Diaconescu resigned from the cabinet on 1 October 2009, in protest at the dismissal of vice prime minister and Interior Minister Dan Nica.

In February 2010, Cristian Diaconescu sought election as PSD president, but withdrew from the race several hours before the party congress that would decide the winner opened.

Subsequently, journalist Floriana Jucan alleged that Cristian Diaconescu had been subject to round-the-clock surveillance for ten days prior to the congress, and that party colleagues had carried out the monitoring in order to blackmail him.

Cristian Diaconescu left the Basescu administration in April 2014, joining the People's Movement Party the following month.